[Last gen farmer]

I have a 55 by 100 machine shop that I’ve used to store grain in for part of the year. It was built about 20 years ago and the roof was nailed on but the sides were screwed on. The roof has started to leak around the rails now the washers have perished. I don’t want to re roof it as the sheets are in near perfect shape. Tried pulling the nails to replace with screws but the metal get so dented nothing is going to seal anymore. Is there a product that can be applied over 5he nails that will seal them. Thought of tar or roofing cement but it going to look a crappy job. Any thoughts.

 

[Willyboy]

With the washer gone would there be room to make an attachment to go on a slide hammer that would slip over the nail head and you could pull them out like that so you're not having to pry against the tin?

 

[SouthernSK]

Could you go from the inside and pound them back out if the nails went through whatever it was nailed into. If not I would pound them in and put silicone or tar over each nail. To re tin this roof with good 26 gauge high tensile metal would be around $6000 for the materials which is not much if you consider how expensive it would be to rebuild it. When I read stuff like this I often wonder why people do not take a few more hours initially to do it right to prevent hours of heart ache latter.

 

[Marusko]

Could use RV sealant over the nails.

 

[Transaxial]

3M 5200 polyurethane marine sealant comes in a tube for a regular caulking gun. They call it permanent and my experience with it is better than most other products unless you used some kind of two part epoxy that gets hard. The marine industry has some pretty good products. I have a 50 year old shed that has lead head nails that were used back then. The lead was supposed to be compatible with the zinc galvanizing on the roof but now they are getting loose and leaking more. The nails were put into the peak of the small ribs in the day so to pull the nails you have to dent the rib somewhat. The only fix I have found, besides caulking, is to use the nail puller with the slide hammer built into it and after you get hold of the nail head lay a good 1" board on the flat part of the metal above the 2x4 perlin and pull the nail and replace it with a 2" long 3/8" head roofing screw with a rubber gasket. Some of the lead head nails are still too solid to pull without seriously denting the metal so just leave them till next time. I guess it depends if you want to invest some time and save the old metal roof or rip it off and start over.

 

[Transaxial]

You can get the 3M 5200 in different colors so it would be less noticeable after patching.

 

[Haystack]

I wonder if you could stretch small o-rings with a large cross section over the nail heads and then tap the nails down just a touch. If they are difficult to pull out they may hold for a while. I know they tend to loosen up in frosty conditions. Maybe even two o-rings could be used?

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[Beerwiser]

Put proper sheet metal screws near the nails to keep the tin from moving and use your favorite sealant to seal up the nails.

 

[farmshop]

Local insulation place does a roof coating for sealing nailed on roofs. Not sure what it costs. They power wash the roof screw the roof if needed then coat the roof